How party differences scuttle efforts at lasting security in South East

The differences in party affiliations have continued to negatively impact the efforts to improve on the security in South East. The governors are more attached to the policies of their individual parties and their programmes than to the commitment of improving the zone for the good of all.

The Ebubeagu, which was formed in 2021, died a natural death as a result of lack of funding.

Obi Umahi, a retired major-general, chairman of the Committee that founded it, resigned in June 2021, two months after the outfit was founded.

South East governors appear to be individual superstars, and torn apart by political party unlike what goes on in other zones.

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Leonard Eziefula, an Owerri-based engineer, attributed the development to governor’s interest in political survival, noting that they pay lip service to security of citizens.

“By this, I mean they will all be looking for loyal successors so they can still remain politically relevant, as well as remain financially afloat when they leave office.

“Most of the governors will still be looking for political offices, such as ministerial appointments. Some will want to retire into the Senate to remain relevant.

“Consequently, none of them pays attention to general security. It’s a lip service affair. They are all selfish. They are interested in the security of themselves and their families. For those (if any) that have floated thriving businesses, the security of those businesses is their concern.”

According to him, “Most of these governors have their children schooling abroad in the advanced countries of Europe, and in the United States of America (USA).

“So, what real security concern will they have, if their families reside abroad, if their monies are stashed abroad?” he queried.

“Unfortunately, I can’t see the political parties in the real sense of it, what we have as political parties are launch pads that people use to run for elections and abandon them after the elections,” Obinna Nwagbara, executive director, Youth and Students Advocates for Development (YSAD), said.

He argued that there’s nothing that is binding anyone to any political party, as seen by the rate people defect to other political parties; including elected officials, noting that political party affiliation should not be emphasized when talking about the security challenges in the South-East.

On how to address security challenges in the South-East, Nwagbara called for the strengthening of security agencies to function as they should, value reorientation for young people and the people of South-East, job creation for the teeming youth, stressing that unemployment and poverty are among the things that are pushing young people into crime.

This is as he also called for the provision of basic infrastructure, such as roads, healthcare systems, schools, among other amenities.

Goodluck Ibem, president general, Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), called on the governors of the region to put security above politics.

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He expressed deep concern over the growing insecurity in the South-East, worsened, by the lack of genuine cooperation among the region’s governors.

“We observe with dismay that political party differences have taken precedence over regional interest, especially on the critical issue of security.

“While the region continues to face attacks, banditry, kidnappings, and fear, our governors have failed to forge a united front, choosing instead to pledge loyalty to their political parties at the expense of their people. Their occasional meetings are mere formalities with no concrete security outcomes,” he said.

He said that security should not be politicised, noting that it affects everyone, regardless of party or ideology.

According to Ibem, the continued disunity among South-East governors emboldens criminal elements and weakens collective response.

“The people of the region deserve better; they deserve safety, peace, and coordinated action.”

He called for an emergency security summit that would involve all governors, security agencies, traditional leaders, and youth groups, to strategize and act with urgency.

He demanded for the creation of a functional, joint regional security outfit with funding and operational support from all the five states of the region.

Ibem further said: “Our governors must rise above party affiliations and act as leaders of the Igbo nation first, not as agents of external political interests.

“The lives of our people must come before party politics. Unity among our leaders is the first step to lasting peace in the South East.”

For Charles Chinekezi, a professor and public affairs analyst, security in the South-East is strained by recurring violent incidents, separatist agitation and local criminality.

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He said that recent reporting and official moves (national emergency declarations; calls by southern governors for coordinated responses) show the South and South-East face acute security pressure that requires joint responses.

He noted that political rivalry and pride between parties and political actors produce fragmentation of responsibility and weaken cooperation.

He noted that investigations and commentaries from the region identify “political differences” and governors working “in silos” as factors that reduce coordinated leadership and slow collective security measures.

He argued that when leaders view security responses through partisan lenses they compete for credit, block information-sharing, and avoid joint institutions that could limit their local control.

“Fragmentation reduces practical tools for security: poor intelligence-sharing, no pooled resources, and uneven implementation of community-based programmes,” he said.

Media and policy commentaries according to him, show calls for a community-based security policy and for state/regional cooperation precisely, because top-down, uncoordinated responses are failing; decentralised/community models are being urged, but uneven uptake and political mistrust make implementation patchy.

He affirmed that when people who must cooperate (governors, parties, security agencies, local institutions) are divided by party competition and personal rivalries, it delays joint action, resulting in citizens seeing security as partisan and either withdraw cooperation or back non-state actors) and this increases vulnerability to kidnapping, arson, attacks on businesses and disruptions of commerce.

Political party differences are therefore a material, causal barrier to effective security reinforcement in the five South-East states. Any realistic security improvement must remove or neutralize partisan obstacles to coordination, restore community trust, and simultaneously address local grievances that fuel violence, according to Chinekezi.

Chinekezi, urged the South-East Governors Forum to convene a non-partisan South-East Security Council that will include security chiefs, town-union reps, church leaders and independent civil society organisations, agree and publicize a joint highway/high-risk corridor patrol plan with pooled fuel and logistics funding shared proportionally, noting that joint patrols will reduce kidnapping and restore commerce quickly.

He urged political leaders to declare a public, time-limited truce on security-related blame-games. Issue a common communiqué committing parties to non-interference in operational security decisions and called for a cease in instrumentalising vigilante/age-grade groups for partisan ends. According to him, parties must not arm or patronize local groups for political advantage.

Chinekezi also called for the formation of unified local security committees that feed verified intel to the Governors’ Security Council and to police hotlines, stressing that local knowledge is the single most actionable asset for stopping attacks.

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Chinekezi, observed that f partisan competition continues to determine who controls security choices, lives and property will keep being protected sporadically and attacks and criminality will keep finding gaps.

He said that the fastest, most realistic route out of the challenge is public, binding, depoliticized cooperation, noting that governors and party leaders must choose collective security over short-term partisan advantage.

He said that local civic institutions must cooperate and provide actionable intelligence; intellectuals and development actors must simultaneously remove the socio-economic fuel that feeds violence.

“The alternative is continued instability, economic loss and human suffering,” he stated.